Railroad-rail joint



Aug! .30, 1927.

P.' MCGINLEY RAILROAD RAIL JOINT `Filed May 14, 1926 patented Ang. 39, 1927.

UNTED STATES retain PETER MCGINLEY, OF NEWARK, OHIO.

RAILROAD-RAIL JOINT.

Application tiled May 14,

This invention relates to structural. tea tures involved in the construction or laying of railroad tracks and has for its object the provision of a novel rail joint.

An important object ot' the. invention is to provide a rail joint so constructed and arranged as to eliminate shock and jar to the cars or other rolling stockV passing thereover.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rail joint embodying` an intermediate or connectingL element designed to be interposed between the ends ol' rail sections and having interitting relation therewith` the contacting portions of the intermediate member or connector and the rails being` arranged at an incline or on an angle 'ith respect to the longitudinal axis et the rail so as to avoid having a joint straight across the rail is the ordinary construction, it being clear that shock and will thus he reduced if not entirely eliminated. t

A further object of the invention is to provide a rail joint embodying the-combination with the inclined tapered ends ot' the rail sections, of an interposed block-like member having,` conforming` intertitting engagement therewith, and fish plates of specialconstruetion located at opposite sides of the interposed bloclr member and rail sections and secured thereto.

An additional object is the provision of a joint et' this character which will be simple and inexpensive to malte and install, positive in action. etlicient and durable in service, and a general improvement in the art.

lilith the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the details ot construction and arrangement ot parts to be hereinafter more it'ully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying' drawing'` in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view o1 the rail joint,

.Figure Q a bottoni plan view thereof,

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on the line fl-Soi Figure l, and

Figure l is a horizontal section taken on the line L -4 ot Figure. j

Referringmore particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1() designates the adjacent ends of rail sections which in the c; rrying out ot' the invention are cut away as indicated at 11, along an incline, the angular inclination of both beine' preferably, though not n ce sarily1 the same so that the inclined tiiillleast substantially parallel.:

1925. Serial N0. 109,052.

At the extremities ot the rail sections are formed square shoulders 12. The inclined surfaces 11 are ceneaved at the ends thereof most remote from the extremities of the rail sections, or in other words these. inclined surfaces merge into curved surfaces 13 which extend to the outer sides or edges of the rails. It will be observed that this particular cutting away of the ends ot' the rails or sections extends entirely through the rails, that is to say the treatment is the same in the ball or tread, the web and the base as will be readily apparent from an inspection of Figures l and 2, in particular.

For connecting' the sections or rails7 I provide a block-like member indicated as a whole by the numeral 1st, which member is interposed between the adjacent ends of the rails or sections l0, this bloclielile member including' a tread portion 15, a web 16 and a base 17 conforming exactly to the cross sectional conlieuration o't' the rails themselves. This interposed member 14 has its opposite sides straight to aline or register with the side edges ol the rail sections, and the ends ot the member are cut away or otherwise formed to define inclined surfaces 18 at the outer ends of which are convex curved walls 19. At the other ends of the inclined surfaces 1S are square shoulders 20. The sur- 'faces 18 ot the member 111 lie conformingly against the inclined surfaces 11 at the ends ot' the rails with the curved surfaces 13 and `1f) likewise engaging and the shoulders 12 of the rail sections, these fish plates conformingly engaging' against the web portions and upon the base portions as clearly illustrated in Figure 3. Securing is eli'ected by means of a suit-able number of bolts 22 which pass through the tish plates and also through the adjacent end portions of the rails and the interposed member 14. The outer edges of the ish plates are represented as notched at 23 tor the accommodation of spikes by means of which securing' to the ties at this point may he effected.

In the use of the device, it will be readily apparent that the interposed member 14: constitutes, in conjunction with the fish plates and bolts, a highly ellieienjt connect,-

in'eans :for the rail sections ttl; iii addifk tion, it serves as a bridge vfor connecting the ends of the rails in such manner as to avoid the shock and jar which always results from the passage of car wheels over the ordinary joint in which the abutting ends oi' the rails are straight across. Clearly this will result in a reduction of the wear and tear on roll ing stock and also on the rails so that the entire equipment will possess longer life. The provision of the square shoulders takes care oif all end ihrrst so that there will be no shearing strain on the bolts. The bolts of course operate to hold the parts assembled and positively prevent any lateral displacement.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will be apparent that' I have thus provided a' simple, ineapensive and easily assembled or installed rail joint structure` which will possess all the advantages for which it is designed. lt is really believed that the construction, operation and advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art without further explanation.

WThile l have shown and described a' pre ferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that l reserve the right to maire such changes in the torni, construction and arrangement of parts as will not depart 'from the spirit ot the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A'. rail joint comprising in combination with the adjacent ends oit two rails substantially correspondingly cut away respectively at opposite sides to define inclined walls and shoulders,` a `block having its opposite sides straight, the block being interposed between the ends of the rails and having inclined surfaces and shoulders enacting Awith and conformingly engaging the inclined surfaces and shoulders of the rails, said block having its middle portion formed the full width of the adjacent rails and' having a tread, base and web to conform to the rails.

2. A rail joint comprising, in combination with the adjacent ends otrails, said adja- Leaorei cent ends being correspondingly cut away at their respective oppositie sides to define inclined surfaces merging into concave curved walls extending to the sides of the rails, the extremities of the rails havingsquare shoulders, ablocli member interpos-ed between the ends of the rails and having its middle portion termed the same Width as the rails and including a web, base and tread portion conforming to the rails, the opposite sides of the block member being straight and alining with the sides of the rails, the opposite end of the block member being' formed with inclined surfaces merging into convex curved wall portions :extending to the sides, the ends of the block member having square shoulders, the inclined surfaces, curved surfaces and shoul ders of the block member conforminglj'/ en-y gaging against those on the rails.

3. A rail joint comprising, in combination with the adjacent ends of rails, said adjacent ends being cut away at their respective4 opposite sides to deiine inclined surfaces merging into concave curved walls ex-` tending to the sides oi the rails` the extremities of the rails having square shoulders, a block member interposed betwecn the ends of the rails and having its middle portion' formed the same width as the rails and including a web, base and tread portion conforming to the rails, the opposite sides ci* the block member being straight and alining `with the sides oli' the rails, the opposite ends of the block member being formed with inclined surfaces merging` into convex Curved wall portions extending to the sides, the ends of the block niieniber havi ing square shoulders,- the inclined surfaces, curved surfaces and should-ers ot the bloei: member conformingly engaging against, those on the rails. iish plates engag" against opposite sides oi' the web portions of the rails and the block member, and curing elements j'nrssiim' tial'rn'eriiely througli the fish plates and the webs. l

In testimony whereof l my signature.

PETER liotilfllil. 

